IRIS supports Lunar Mission One

IRIS is pleased to support Lunar Mission One – the first mission to land and drill at a lunar pole. The Mission is hugely innovative, using crowdfunding to support the initiative and aiming to inspire school children everywhere to explore space, science, engineering and technology.

Scientific Objectives

The Lunar Mission One drill will carry instruments to measure geological conditions and chemical compositions. After the drilling, instruments including seismometers will be placed into the borehole to get more accurate readings.

By drilling down to a depth of at least 20 metres, 10 times further than ever drilled before (though potentially as deep as 100 metres), the team will be able to access and analyse lunar rock that is 4.5 billion years old. Studying rock from deep below the surface will allow a better understanding of the geological composition of the Moon, the relationship it shares with our planet and the effects of the late heavy bombardment period on the inner solar system.

The spacecraft’s instruments will also measure the local environmental conditions on and above the lunar surface. This will include the emissions of particles and electromagnetic radiation from the Sun and galaxy, and the bombardment of micrometeorites and larger objects. The mission will assess the composition of the surface dust layer looking in particular for oxygen and hydrogen which could be converted to forms of energy. From all this, the project will improve our understanding of the suitability of the lunar south pole as a location for a permanent human base.

By measuring the variation of radiological conditions as the Earth dips in and out of sight, scientists will be able to investigate and plan for a future radio telescope for low frequency astronomy from the Moon, something not possible from Earth.

An Archive on the Moon

Lunar Mission One will place a 21st century time capsule inside the borehole that we drill on the Moon to be preserved for about a billion years by the exceptional conditions within the Moon. The time capsule will consist of two main parts:

The private archive will consist of millions and millions of individual digital ‘memory boxes’. Supporters can be among the first to reserve a place in space and secure a ‘memory box’ via the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. In time, you will be able to upload anything you want into your virtual ‘memory box’ just as you would with a real-world time capsule. Over the next 10 years, anyone around the world will be able to buy a ‘place in space’ – this is how we secure the longer term funding for the Mission.

The public archive will contain a publically assembled, authoritative record of life on Earth, with a history of humankind and a species database that chronicles the Earth’s known biodiversity and how it all fits together – from geology to atmosphere. This archive will be available online both during development and after the Mission has been accomplished. The team will have laid the groundwork for future generations to develop and maintain this hugely valuable research and educational tool. Publically owned and accessible to all, this archive is a hugely ambitious plan that could only be resourced by a project of this scale.

The Team from IRIS Intelligence support Lunar Mission One and we have “reserved our place in space” – will you?